Chicago Bulls: Derrick Rose watch: week two

Derrick Rose is finally back as part of the NBA landscape as a player for the Chicago Bulls, rather than a spectator. It will be interesting to see Rose’s progression throughout the season, as he gets reacclimated to true NBA action. I’ll use the weekly “Derrick Rose Watch” to track how Rose is performing.

11/6 at Indiana Pacers (L, 97-80)

27 min, 6-15 FG, 17 points, 2 assists, 4 turnovers

Halfway through the first quarter, this looked like the game that Rose would break out and shake off a lot of the rust. He hit his first three shots in quick succession in the opening quarter. National television, division rival, it was set up for Rose to show up.

“Hey C.J., could you come back and be my backup again? Please?”

But then he picked up two fouls in the first quarter, and was thrown off his rhythm. He struggled shooting the rest of the night, and the Pacers trapped him with aggressive double teams and, in the fourth quarter, put all-around dynamo Paul George on Rose. The first quarter was a bright spot, but the rest of the game was more of the same so far this year.

11/8/13 vs. Utah Jazz (W, 97-73)

27 min, 3-8 FG, 12 points, 5 assists, 3 turnovers

A bad team is just what the doctor ordered for the Bulls to get a win. I wasn’t able to watch this game, but Rose’s stats and impact were oddly absent from some recaps I read. Judging from the minutes and field goal attempts, it seems that the Bulls took control of the game early and Rose eased through the game. He finally had more assists than turnovers in a game, so there’s that. I’m glad to see that Tom Thibodeau has eased up on his typically-crazy minutes distribution to his starters.

So Rose is still rounding into form. It might get redundant to hear, but it will take awhile for Rose to finally be back in MVP form. There’s no question in my mind that the game will come where Rose shows us all his true colors. Until then, though, there’s going to be a few more stat lines like the Jazz game.

About Daniyal Habib

People think I'm weird because I like the Bulls and the Pacers. I think it's weird too. I'm a big time basketball fan living in the hotbed of ball, Indianapolis. You can follow me on Twitter @DHabibiSports